homebrew stain

[Angus]

I know there has been discussion about homebrew stains in the past, but what is your favorite mix and pictured example of results?

[pathfinder]

Road tar from the crack's in pure turpintine.

[Dphariss]

I know there has been discussion about homebrew stains in the past, but what is your favorite mix and pictured example of results?

Nitric acid diluted somewhat with water then depleted with steel/iron.









Ferric Nitrate crystals mixed with water seem to give identical color on the same piece of wood.
Dan

[keweenaw]

I add 1 part conc. Nitric Acid to 5 parts water and then add cast iron chips stopping somewhat short of the total amount of Iron that could be added, say 3.5 grams of iron in 60 ml of diluted nitric acid.  It will take a couple days for the iron to all react at room temperature.  The fumes which come off of this are toxic so do it someplace well ventilated.  I tried with with stronger and weaker nitric acid dilutions and found no advantage whatsoever in using a stronger nitric acid solution.  The object is to generate ferric nitrate so as Dan points out the colors you get by simply dissolving ferric nitrate crystals in water are the same.  The only possible differences are if you add very large amounts of iron to the nitric acid it will eventually turn into a sludge.  If you put the sludge on a stock you'll be adding iron pigment as well as ferric nitrate, but the sludge tends to muddy the surface, not a good thing to do to a nice piece of maple.

Tom

[little joe]

Snyder, are you starting with the 70 percent nitric acid?

[tallbear]

I make my Nitrate of iron stain by mixing four parts water with one part acid.I add large pieces of wrought iron taken from a house built in the 1700's.I let it sit until the reaction stops 12-24 hours then strain through cheesecloth and bottle leaving the lid loose for the first couple of weeks.I always apply two applications of stain blushing after each application.

Mitch Yates








I even use it on walnut.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Once I made a good brown/red stain by dissolving bark from a White Spruce in concentrated ammonia.  I only applied it to the shaft of a lance made from pine, but the colour was excellent.  I might have a picture somewhere...I don't know how it would work on maple.

[snowdragon]

Rusty nails dumped into a jar of white vinegar, let it brew for about a month. Makes a light colored stain.  I think it works best on plain maple, gives it a golden brown walnut look. I've used it on two plain jane rifles I built and really liked the look. Bill

[JTR]

Mitch, You build a nice rifle!

John

[tallbear]

Thank You John !! I'm learning

Mitch Yates

[Angus]

Beautiful colors on those pieces! Thanks for the input, I will experiment with some ideas.

[Dphariss]

The iron source used for making ferric nitrate stain is irrelevant. I have used modern nails, steel wool and iron wagon tires and the color is ALWAYS the same on the same piece of wood. Ferric Nitrate crystals dissolved in water make the same color as shop made stain made with nitric acid.
The great advantage to this stain IF its made with nitric acid and iron and properly applied it is color fast. Many of the modern stains made with dyes etc are not and will fade or change color when exposed to sunlight.

Dan

[tallbear]

The iron source used for making ferric nitrate stain is irrelevant.

I must respectively disagree.I have had good luck varying the shades of my nitrate of iron stain by changing the iron I use.For example I've mixed to identical concentrations of acid /water.In one I used mild steel(most likely A36) and one I used wrought iron.The mild steel stains more to the brown with no red undertones,while the wrought iron stains a lighter brown with red undertones.At any one time I keep a half dozen different mixes of stain and get different shades from each on the same piece of wood.The reason for the different shades may be due to impurities in the metal or the temperature of the reaction but differences are possible.

Mitch

[gunmaker]

Where can one obtain these ferric nitrate crystals.   ....Tom

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

It took me a while and lots of questions to find it, but John Archer gave me the following address, and I had no trouble getting a 500 g container of the stuff.

So, for you Canadians:  New Horizons Scientfic, 2351 Vauxhall Place, Richmond, BC, V6V 1Z5 phone:  604-821-
1455, fax: 604-821-1499, toll free:  1-877-822-1455 or 1-877-822-1456  email:  sales@newhorizonsscientfic.ca

I'm beginning to accept that this red undertone thing might be an urban legend.  Until recently, most of my reference books are largely in black and white.  I have purchased several now that display the original rifles in colour, and almost without exception, the rifles are simply brown.  Two examples of this are the Moravian Rifle book and Patrick Hornsberger's new one on Lancaster rifles. 

[boman]

here's another source for ferric nitrate and othe useful chemicals--- http://www.sciencecompany.com/Default.aspx

Steve

[Slow2Load]

These are excellent. It would be great know homebrew stains that are UV resistant, the colors that can be made and organic or grocery store recipes.

[Darrin McDonal]

Mitch I have to agree with you. I have found substantial difference in the color depending on what the source of the iron was. There were chocolate browns with very little to no golds & reds when I used some and more reds less golds on others. Now dont get me wrong, they all made beautiful "stains" but it all depends on what you want in you final look. And yes!!!! The woods certainly do affect it also. Each stock (tree) you will get different results. It might not be a bad idea to keep a number of different recipes to try on the different stock scraps in order to try to achieve the certain look. 
This is just what I have experienced, you guys can try it and report back if you want.
Darrin